Perfect game tops off high school baseball season of many highs

The magical moment that happened Saturday night at the Diamond at Lake Elsinore is further proof that high school baseball in Southern California is the best in the nation.

For senior Cory Hahn and sophomore Ty Moore of Santa Ana Mater Dei to combine for a seven-inning perfect game in a 2-0 victory over Dana Point Dana Hills in the Southern Section Division 1 championship brought to a close a season of many highs.

It started for me back in early March, when Mater Dei received a 17-2 pounding by Corona Santiago on a day the Sharks honored their hero, pitcher Nick Hurtado, who threw the opening pitch, then walked off the mound to the dugout amid hugs, tears and cheers to begin chemotherapy treatments for cancer.

Maybe some of that emotion and understanding that every day life is precious rubbed off on the Monarchs, because their ride back to the top was extraordinary.

“It’s an accumulation of a lot of hard work by our guys,” Coach Burt Call said. “They really took it to heart after that first loss. They kept battling the whole year. Every time they got knocked down, they picked themselves up.”

This was the year of the pitcher. From Hahn going 14-1 to seeing the likes of Henry Owens of Huntington Beach Edison, Adam Plutko of Glendora, Taijuan Walker of Yucaipa, Griffin Murphy of Redlands East Valley, Cody Buckel of Simi Valley Royal, Peter Tago of Dana Hills, Jose Cardona of Woodland Hills El Camino Real, Dylan Covey of Pasadena Maranatha . . . it was a season of pitching excellence.

There were freshman phenoms, such as shortstops Chris Rivera from Placentia El Dorado and J.P. Crawford from Lakewood. There were stunning sophomores, such as pitcher-outfielder Moore from Mater Dei and shortstop Rio Ruiz from La Puente Bishop Amat.

Call me lucky, but in a span of three weeks, I saw Ronnie Galosic from San Pedro hit a two-out, two-strike, three-run, game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 10-9 playoff victory; followed by Cardona throwing a one-hitter for an eight-inning playoff victory; followed by a two-out, 3-and-2 count, game-tying triple in the bottom of the seventh of the City championship game; followed by a perfect game to end it all.

In between, there were so many characters. There’s a sophomore pitcher at Cypress Oxford, Daniel Lucak, who finished 15-3, has a 4.2 grade-point average, wants to be an engineer and loves airplanes so much that he’ll look up into the sky whenever a plane flies over.

“He’ll stop, ‘It’s a Boeing 747,’ ” a teammate said.

There’s junior shortstop Scotty Burcham from Palm Desert who was so good fielding ground balls in the Division 4 final that it’s doubtful a major leaguer could have looked better.

“I don’t get nervous or tense up during big games,” he said.

This season will be remembered most for the singular performances by Hahn. Three seasons ago, he was a freshman standout, then slumped so badly as a sophomore that his average dipped below .200. He learned about adversity, perseverance and being humble. As a junior, he hit the dramatic grand slam off first-round draft pick Matt Hobgood from Norco in the playoff quarterfinals.

But this season topped everything. His 10th home run came in the sixth inning Saturday night over the right-field wall. That was after he retired 15 batters in order, seven on strikeouts. He also made a running catch of a deep fly ball in center field.

“Cory Hahn had an unbelievable season,” his coach said. “I’ve never seen one like it. He’s the best I’ve ever coached. His competitive fire and will to win is amazing.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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